The following article was first published on www.britishbaseball.org
GOOD WEEKEND FOR BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL ON THE BBC
It was a good May Bank Holiday weekend for British baseball and softball on BBC national radio and television.
Softball on Radio 2
It began on the Friday Fixture slot on Simon Mayo’s Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 just before 7.00 pm.
This segment features sports that don’t get as much publicity as they deserve, and in a three-minute interview with sports reporter Matt Williams, Bob Fromer, BSUK Communications Consultant and GB Softball General Manager, was able to promote co-ed slowpitch softball as a participation sport and the GB Women’s Fastpitch Team for their achievement in qualifying for this summer’s World Championships in Venezuela despite receiving no public funding.
Baseball on BBC 1
Then, on the BBC 1 Breakfast programme on Saturday morning, their resident intrepid sports reporter Mike Bushell visited Herts Baseball Club to see what was happening and have a go.
The report covered the encouraging growth in British Baseball league teams this season and the developing youth programme at Herts, and Herts player-manager and GB Baseball General Manager Jason Greenberg was able to promote the current fund-raising drive to get the GB Baseball Team to this summer’s European Championships.
Given the general reluctance of mainstream media in this country to pay much attention to minority sports, the coverage this weekend was very welcome, and the BBC should be commended for providing it.
Click here for more photos featuring the Herts Little Leaguers and Mike Bushell’s tryout with the Herts Falcons